


Avoidance

by EdosianOrchids901



Series: Plain Simple Prompts [28]
Category: Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
Genre: Anxiety, Claustrophobia, Depression, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, M/M, POV Elim Garak, POV First Person
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-02
Updated: 2018-10-02
Packaged: 2019-07-23 19:23:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 739
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16165352
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EdosianOrchids901/pseuds/EdosianOrchids901
Summary: Dialogue prompt: “It’s been this way for days now. No change as far as I can tell.”





	Avoidance

**Author's Note:**

> Part of a series of ficlets based on dialogue prompts from Tumblr. Written 6/18.

My dreams these days always seemed unpleasant. True, I’d rarely had happy ones, and nightmares were a long-time adversary. But of late, I’d had nothing aside from images and feelings that left me feeling uneasy, agitated, and vaguely nauseous. 

So, I didn’t particularly mind being awakened by low voices. What I did mind, though, was that it sounded like Julian was in the next room talking to someone… about me. 

“It’s been this way for days now. No change as far as I can tell,” he continued. “He’s barely eating, his sleep is restless as hell… I’m really worried about him.”

Mildly annoyed now, I reached out and calmly tipped over a glass of water. It made a satisfying amount of noise as it toppled off the bed stand, bounced off the wall, and then rolled under a chair. 

As I’d expected, Julian reacted to the sound with a hurried goodbye to whoever he was talking to, and then rushed into the room. “Elim? You okay?”

“Perfectly fine, my dear.” I tipped my chin up and blinked at him, the picture of innocence. 

With a short, sharp sigh, he fished the cup out and set it back on the bed stand. “You’re ridiculous, you know,” he said, shaking his head. “Knocking things over to get my attention? Are you a cat?”

Still feeling petulant, I gave as cat-like a stretch as I could manage, and then settled back against the head of the bed. “Would you care to tell me who you were discussing my private affairs with?”

“That’s what this is about?” Julian pushed up from the floor, having finished cleaning up the water. “God, Garak, you’re such a child sometimes.”

“Says the person who seems to be incapable of respecting anyone’s privacy.” 

He pressed his lips together, giving me an exasperated look. “Love, you’re hardly one to talk about respecting privacy.” 

“So?” I prompted again. “Who was it?”

“It was Ezri, of course. Remember? Your counselor?” He took a seat on the edge of the bed, and I could see now how heavily this was weighing on him. “Elim, listen. I’m scared for you. I know it’s getting bad again, and you won’t let me help. There’s only so much I can do anyway, and when you won’t even talk to me about it…”

“I’m not interested in further therapy with Ezri.” Now somewhat stricken with guilt for causing him stress, I covered his hand with mine. “There’s nothing terribly wrong with me, Julian. You needn’t fret.”

“Needn’t fret?” He shook his head again, looking almost frantic with concern. “Garak, you’ve not left our quarters in almost two weeks. You’re barely even getting out of bed, dearest, and that scares the hell out of me.”

“I do get out of bed!” I protested. “You aren’t here at all hours, after all, and I don’t exactly have anyone else to bring me tea.”

“Okay, so you get out of bed for tea. That’s still not…” With another shake of his head, he dropped his gaze. “You know what, fine. You want me to leave you alone about it, I’ll leave you alone.”

“My dear Julian, that’s hardly what I want. There just isn’t terribly much to discuss about it.”

“Will you at least tell me why you’re not leaving? I know you don’t need to go to your shop since it’s not actually open right now, but you used to at least go work on the decryptions somewhere other than bed.”

I hesitated, ashamed to admit my weakness. “It’s the turbolifts.”

The furrows in Julian’s brow deepened, and he gave a slow nod. “They’re setting off your claustrophobia.”

“Yes, it’s rather inconvenient.” I sighed, tightening my hold on his hand almost without realizing it. “Working on these decryptions is proving to be deleterious to my mental stability no matter what I do. And right now, I’m just barely managing to tolerate being on the station, let trapping myself in a confined space.”

“Elim, stop,” Julian interrupted, cupping my cheek. I became aware that I’d broken out in a sweat and was now trembling. “It’s okay. You don’t have to explain any more, I get it.”

I nodded again, my chest tight. “Would you be so good as to sit with me for a while? I’m feeling a bit unsteady.”

“Of course.” He settled in beside me, running his hand across my hair. “It’s okay, Garak. I’m right here.”


End file.
